Taking eggs from a broody hen?

[Son1shine]

Hello,

I have a question about taking eggs from a broody hen.

My son takes care of the chickens, and we off-handedly said he could let one go broody. So, we have a broody one, and my son wasn’t home today so I went down to feed the chickens and I decided I would candle her eggs to see if any of them had life. Well, she had a mess under there! One of the clear eggs had cracked and there was sticky yoke over a bunch of the eggs and her underside.
I started taking them out and they just kept coming and coming. She had 21 eggs under there. Something was def. not right! Anyways, I took them all out, quickly put her by the food and cleaned her bedding from the yolk mess while she was eating. Then I put 6 eggs from other laying boxes back in her box, and put her back on top of them so she wouldn’t feel she had lost all her babies and abandon her post.

So I brought all of the eggs up to the house to candle then. 8 have life! 4 are cloudy, and the rest were empty. So, now I don’t know what to do! (We didn’t want to just leave them alone because it isn’t a good set up for her to hatch the chicks with 15 other hens in there and how would they get down from the laying box, they food and waterer set up isn’t good for chicks etc etc. Obviously we didn’t think this all through. Learning as we go. Please be kind!

We have an incubator that will be ready in about 3 days. (It is in lock down With another batch now.)

So, I could give the eggs back to the broody mama until the incubator is ready, or jerry rig some sort of warming device for 3 days. Or

Any thoughts or advice? Thank you!!

 

[MarkJr]

Mark the eggs and give them back to momma. Check every few days and remove the other layers eggs from her nest. Wait for the hatch.
Or, give them back for a few days, then incubate and reintroduce.
Or, give her fake eggs. Start fresh with batch that way you don’t have a staggered hatch, then reintroduce when they are done cooking.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Mama hens can get chicks out if a nest box just fine. I have had then get chicks out of rabbit nest boxes, mail totes, even off piles of hay 20 so feet high without many problems. Also food, even if you don't have crumble, (you shpyld, but if for whatever reason you cant,) most males are great at finding things babies can eat

 

[Son1shine]

Ok, thank you! I candled then and marked their air cell (they seem to be about day 10-14 from my limited experience) and put them back under her. We will check and remove any new eggs each day.
It seems like baby chicks would get pecked out and beat up in a hen house full fo hens? Does this somehow not happen if a mama is taking care of them?

 

[wyoDreamer]

I finally broke my broody hen. She sat for 3 weeks on that nest and I removed eggs 2x a day to keep her from sitting on them very long. NO rooster here.
It has been 2 weeks and the other hens are still be very cautious around her. She must peck pretty hard. She just walks up to the feeder and the rest part like the red sea.

I think a good momma hen will be able to protect her chicks from the rest of the flock. If possible, you may want to make a safe place for the chicks to retreat to where the big girls can't get to. Have food and water available for them in there. It can be a simple as an upside down laundry basket with Chick sized holes cut in the sides.

 

[MarkJr]

I have three very cranky pullets in general. The chicks get among them, and when they are being annoying little turds, the pullets peck. If it’s more than a warning peck, momma intervenes. They learn who to stay away from, starting at the first time out of the nest. This is also the reason it is essential to give a broody extra space. The flock needs to allow the chicks room to get away and give them space so broody doesn’t come unglued.

 

[ChickadeeNiche]

I’m new at this! My broody Buff was sitting on 28 eggs. I’m not trying to have chicken multiplication here. I got 27 now. So I pulled them and candled them. I see life in them, a few are heavy and must be developed. Can I incubate a few? I looked at them to see if they were henS but the fullness and shape. The rest are pointed ends and I heard those are normally Roos — can I incubate a few Or incubate, hatch and give them away? I’m not set up to have more than what I have right now. I do plan on using some for meat? Hope I’m not sounding cruel — new at this!

I just have 1 roo is all I kept - a Black Crested Polish roo

Thanks

 

[NatJ]

I’m new at this! My broody Buff was sitting on 28 eggs. I’m not trying to have chicken multiplication here. I got 27 now. So I pulled them and candled them. I see life in them, a few are heavy and must be developed. Can I incubate a few? I looked at them to see if they were henS but the fullness and shape. The rest are pointed ends and I heard those are normally Roos — can I incubate a few Or incubate, hatch and give them away? I’m not set up to have more than what I have right now. I do plan on using some for meat? Hope I’m not sounding cruel — new at this!

I just have 1 roo is all I kept - a Black Crested Polish roo

Thanks

It usually works better if you start a new thread, instead of adding to an old thread.
(I know some forums have different conventions, but that is what is normal on backyardchickens.)

For your eggs:
Yes, you can leave the eggs under the hen or you can put them in an incubator.

Egg shape does not tell you the gender of chicks. It just doesn't work.

If you have no room for more chickens, you have several choices:
--just discard the eggs
--incubate the eggs & then give away the chicks
--incubate the eggs, raise the chicks for a while, and then butcher them & eat them.

When I say you can "incubate" the eggs, I mean under the hen or in an incubator. Either can work. Likewise, "raising" the chicks can be in a brooder with a heat source, or you can let the hen raise them.

For butchering, you can eat them at any size and any age. But if you are used to buying chicken at the grocery store, you will find the chicks from your eggs look small, skinny, and bony no matter what age you butcher them at. It's just a matter of what breed they are. (But they taste fine.)

 

[ChickadeeNiche]

It usually works better if you start a new thread, instead of adding to an old thread.
(I know some forums have different conventions, but that is what is normal on backyardchickens.)

For your eggs:
Yes, you can leave the eggs under the hen or you can put them in an incubator.

Egg shape does not tell you the gender of chicks. It just doesn't work.

If you have no room for more chickens, you have several choices:
--just discard the eggs
--incubate the eggs & then give away the chicks
--incubate the eggs, raise the chicks for a while, and then butcher them & eat them.

When I say you can "incubate" the eggs, I mean under the hen or in an incubator. Either can work. Likewise, "raising" the chicks can be in a brooder with a heat source, or you can let the hen raise them.

For butchering, you can eat them at any size and any age. But if you are used to buying chicken at the grocery store, you will find the chicks from your eggs look small, skinny, and bony no matter what age you butcher them at. It's just a matter of what breed they are. (But they taste fine.)

Thank you for responding